Judge: R.I. gov can enforce immigration order

PROVIDENCE — Gov. Don Carcieri can force private employers who do business with Rhode Island's government to electronically check their workers' immigration status, a judge ruled Monday, giving the governor a victory in the state's heated immigration debate.

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By RAY HENRY

southcoasttoday.com

By RAY HENRY

Posted Sep. 16, 2008 at 12:01 AM

By RAY HENRY
Posted Sep. 16, 2008 at 12:01 AM

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PROVIDENCE — Gov. Don Carcieri can force private employers who do business with Rhode Island's government to electronically check their workers' immigration status, a judge ruled Monday, giving the governor a victory in the state's heated immigration debate.

But in denying a restraining order request, Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer said Carcieri cannot end the contracts of those companies that refuse to use the federal immigration database until the state explains how it will enforce the new rules and allows the public to comment on them.

The state branch of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit this month to stop Carcieri from enforcing his order that requires the private companies to use the database, called E-Verify, to vet new hires.

In his ruling, Pfeiffer rejected ACLU arguments that Carcieri had abused his constitutional authority by signing the order. The judge said he did not believe that private employers would be harmed by letting it stand until the lawsuit is decided, most likely in late November.

"The harm would be minimal as it relates to vendors ... who presently have contracts," Pfeiffer wrote.

Carcieri said he was pleased with the ruling.

"The decision clearly recognizes that my Executive Order was within my authority and allowed by the state's Constitution," the governor said in a written statement.

Although the judge did not grant the restraining order, ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown said the ruling will force Carcieri to follow laws dictating how the executive branch makes administrative rules.

"That, in essence, is what the judge did even though he formally denied the restraining order," Brown said. "What he denied in one hand, he essentially granted with the other."

Carcieri's executive order also requires state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation. When Carcieri signed it in March, he blamed the estimated 20,000 to 40,000 illegal immigrants in Rhode Island for straining the state budget and financially burdening school districts and hospitals.

State officials sent letters in late July warning that private employers who did not register for E-Verify within 45 days could lose their contracts. Rhode Island and 14 other states mandate that certain employers use E-Verify, federal officials said. Two states, Arizona and Mississippi, make it mandatory for all employers.

ACLU lawyers argued that E-Verify is an error-prone pilot program that could lead to discrimination and profiling of workers and is unduly burdensome for small businesses.

A 2007 report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security showed 96 percent of people claiming to be U.S. citizens were cleared by the database on the first try. But the report said 3 percent of foreign-born workers with the right to work in the U.S. were erroneously rejected by the E-Verify system, compared with 0.1 percent of U.S. citizens.

Pfeiffer said concerns over the database's accuracy were speculative and did not factor into his decision.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said authorities were working to address the error rates.